The Edge
by EvilRegalShandyLvr21
Summary: A journey through life, love and death. Warning: Major Character Death


WARNING: Major Character Death.

My muse wanted to take a journey through life, love and how it ends.

Thank you for the all the reviews on my previous stories. I appreciate them from the bottom of my heart.

As usual, I don't own these amazing characters, I am just taking them on a ride! They will be returned to the _Duffster_!

All mistakes are my own.

Enjoy!

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~ERSL21~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

The edge is where the beginning of our relationship flourished. The night after our first date, we walked along this very shore. As the waves crashed into the beaten path of sand, we walked hand in hand and discussed where our relationship would go. She introduced me to the edge. The edge, her place of solitude. But when we became us, it became our place of solitude.

" _Andy, this is going to take some hard work on our parts." She breathes as our hands are conjoined as the waves crash against our legs._

" _I know. But I'm no stranger to hard work and neither are you." I confess as I gaze into her moonlit illuminated jade orbs._

 _With a nervous but beautiful giggle, she agrees, "Very true."_

 _The waves begin crashing harder against our legs, making her shiver. Pulling her into a side hug, "I whisper, "Are you cold?"_

 _Smiling up at me, she muses, "Not anymore."_

Our first night on the edge was truly beautiful. We walked the coast for a good hour. Discussing the future of our relationship. We discussed the pace of our relationship. She thought I would back away because she wanted to date in an "old fashioned" manner, as she so eloquently put it, but I proved her wrong. The next memorable moment on the edge was our one-year anniversary. The day meant so much to us both. Our first year was filled so many challenges, between my health, new job offers she was fielding, Rusty's horrible breakup with his first boyfriend and some really trying cases, it was a day to be celebrated.

" _Can you believe it? We made it an entire year!" She exclaims as sticking her spoon in my mint gelato as we watch the sunset over the horizon._

" _It was a hard one. But I'm proud of us! We made it. Sure we hit a few waves along the way, but we never allowed those damn waves to capsize us." I say as she looks at me with the smile that stole my heart long before I realized it._

" _A smooth sail never created a skillful sailor. Or so I hear." She muses before taking another spoonful of my gelato._

" _No truer words have ever been spoken, gelato thief." I tease sticking my spoon in her lavender gelato._

 _Laughing, she breathes, "What? It's really good!"_

" _I know. Why did you think I got it?" I tease._

Ever since that day any time we went for gelato, I would always request a double order. Stubborn Sharon wouldn't order her own, she always had to eat mine. God, that woman is the best thing that ever happened to me. She came along like a strong wind and swept me off my feet. I was glad to be swept off my feet. She was what I needed all along. I never realized I was missing something until, I fell in love with her. She changed me. She made me the best man I could be. On that day, I realized something very important. However, it took me almost another year, to verbalize it. The following year we brought her birthday in at the edge.

" _Andy, this is beautiful." She muses as her jade eyes are illuminated by the bonfire._

" _I know you wanted to go camping, but with the case and…" I begin to apologize and she interrupts, "Nonsense. This is better than camping!"_

" _You sure?" I inquire as she moves closer to be on the blanket._

" _Yes! I'm one lucky woman. I'm spending my birthday at the edge with the man I love and with a beautiful roaring fire, with cake and flowers!" She muses before kissing me. Her kisses are my craving. The way she ignites my soul, with just a gentle press of her soft lips, is amazing._

" _Well, how about I make it an even better birthday." I say as we break apart. Her look of curiosity brings joy to my heart._

 _Reaching in my pocket, I pull out the velvet box, with the ring that I searched months on end for, "Sharon, will you make me luckiest man in the universe and do me the honor of becoming my wife?"_

 _As I gaze into her eyes, they fill with tears, she breathes, "Yes!"_

That day has left an indelible mark in my heart and my brain. I never in a million years would have thought I would find love, like I found with her. Our love was different. It was the type of love I never experienced as a young man, who was eager to start a family. It was that everlasting and intangible type of love that we as older people crave and cherish. The day we became one, was the most magnificent day of my life. I didn't cry at my first wedding, but at my last I did. Even Louie, shed a few tears. The old grump, has a soft side. Who knew? On our tenth anniversary, I asked her if she wanted to do something special. She told me she wanted to do "our thing." The edge had become "our thing."

" _Ten years." I muse as we, slower than normal, walk the edge._

" _You've aged horribly, in those ten years." She teases as she hooks her arm beneath mine._

" _But you don't look at a day over, 25." I confess. She smiles at me as the wind whisks through her now salt and pepper mane._

" _Still the charmer!" She muses tilting up to kiss me on the jaw, as she pulls her cardigan tighter around her stealth frame._

" _Forever and always! You know that's why you love me." I tease back, pulling her into a side hug._

" _I'll let you think that." She muses as the sun completes it set._

Over the course of the next few years, a lot of things changed. Rusty, and Emily both got married. Ricky is still a confirmed bachelor and he enjoys it. Emily welcomed a set of twins and shortly after Nicole welcomed a beautiful baby girl, she named after Sharon and I, Shalynn. Rusty and his husband, started the process of adopting a baby boy from Japan. My son began speaking to me again, and welcomed a set of fraternal twins. Amy, became the Assistant Chief after Tao retired. Sharon was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. The day we found out, there was only one place she wanted to go after the appointment.

" _Sharon, we are going to beat this." I say as we sit along the edge watching the waves. She only hums in response._

" _Sharon, I'm serious." I rasp as I pull her back against my chest._

" _Shh." She whispers, squeezing my hands. Following her lead, I say nothing else. The waves begin to crash harder against the edge, and I can feel her warm tears on my chest._

" _Let's just enjoy the time we have. I don't want this to ruin the precious time we have. I want to enjoy every moment. I want to fulfill our bucket list." She confesses. Without her having to say it, I understand the hidden meaning behind her words._

Sharon meant it. We enjoyed our time. We traveled the world. We even took the entire family to Disneyland for a weekend. Sharon, wanted the grandkids to remember her as the fun and exciting 'Nana,' as she preferred to be called. My favorite memory of us as we traveled was when we visited Vatican City. She also meant she wasn't going to accept treatment. She refused to waste the medicine. She accepted her truth, even better than the kids and I could. Towards the end, I understood her determination to just live and not spend her last days in chemo room at Cedar Sinai. She wanted to experience all that life had to offer. She wanted to experience it with me. To know that she wanted her last days to be filled with providing me with lasting memories of our love, means the world to me.

This time I am physically alone, at "our place." It feels different, but I know it's right. She left me a letter in hidden in our insurance plan, it simply read: "You know what to do. XOXO-The love of your life, Sharon"

So, here I am 15 months later, at the edge. The wind is warm but strong. As the tears welt in my eyes, I open the urn. As soon as I do, the wind changes direction. I tilt the urn away from my heart, and as the first few ashes flyaway, I whisper, "Sharon, I love you." As the ashes fly into wind and trickle into the ocean, I feel a cool breeze at my ear. Sharon, is here and she just reminded me of her final words to me, _**"I will always be at the edge, love."**_

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~ERSL21~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

If you made it to the end, thank you very much and I looking forward to your nuggets of appreciation!

XoXo- ERSL21


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